Wooden Roses
by wubbzy
Summary: Naruto noticed Sakura received roses that weren't from him. Let's just say that didn't abide well with Naruto, and Sakura was nothing but amused. NaruSaku.


_A/N:_ My shot at a romantic comedy. I've read a lot of secret admirer fics that were NaruSaku for a while now. I just thought it was time for a little change, don't you? I feel this is a _bit_ original, but I don't know (I certainly haven't read one like this). We'll just say this is AU. And yes, I admit this is pretty OOC from recent manga chapters (although my basis wasn't the recent manga chapters. I wrote this quite a while ago). Hopefully this will make up for my long absence.

_Disclaimer_: I don't own Naruto.

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___A NaruSaku One-shot_  
><em>_**Author: **___wubbzy_  
><em>_Count: __7016

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**Wooden Roses**

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_It was the first day of spring_

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Azure eyes sparkled almost as much as the water droplets that trickled off the verdant leaves of trees and the variety of florae. His orange pants were matted with grass stains, and his golden hair was tousled and wild, a drizzle occasionally plummeting from his locks to his forehead. His face held small increments of dirt that smeared with the water that grazed his skin. His fishnet shirt was ripped at the center as it clung to his lean chest. His nose could smell the damp dew after the cascades of water beads that fell. Naruto grinned as he looked at the crack in the earth that almost looked like it would go on to an abyss.

"That should be good for today." Naruto grinned. He scrutinized the demolished training grounds. He looked down to his grumbling stomach. _"Right on time too,"_ Naruto thought as he headed towards the hospital.

.

Sakura yawned, waking up to a stack of disorderly and unfinished papers.

"_Damn,"_ she thought as she looked the papers over. When she became the administrator of the hospital, she expected quite a bit of paperwork, but this much was absolutely improbable, and most likely _impossible_ to complete. Tsunade took this grandiose opportunity to hand Sakrua all of _her_ paperwork. This was _not_ in the job description. Most of these files weren't meant for her eyes. Sakura heaved a heavy sigh, mentally noting to talk to her about this. She groaned, glancing over to her watch.

"I'm already late for my shift," she thought. It was already a quarter to noon. Her first shift was long gone, and she'd be going to lunch pretty soon. Another haggard groan escaped her lips, heading out the door.

Something red caught her by surprised, her attention now on something red, wittingly on the floor next to a small card. The first thing Sakura felt was curiosity, wondering why this object was there in the first place. The second thing she felt was suspicion, wondering who would give her such a gesture as she picked it up and assed the object.

"Sakura," Ino's voice drawled out, stuffing her fingers into her doctor's coat pockets. She had come closer, her eyebrow perched up and inquisitive. "How much paperwork did Tsunade-sama put on you this time?" she questioned, noting the discoloration under the rosette's eyes. However, any thoughts of her best friend's lack of sleep or work load was quickly dismissed when she noticed the ruby rose with a dainty card in Sakura's hands. She gasped, "I didn't know you were with someone." Ino's lips crawled up into a smirk, and Sakura rolled her eyes at her assumption.

"For your information, I have no idea who put this here," Sakura explained, frowning at the thought. As much as she tried to remain nonchalant about this entire situation, she was actually quite flustered about it as well. She had remembered herself giving little secret admirer things when she was a child, but never had truly been on the receiving end: at least in the case of not knowing_ who_ it was. This could possibly be the most aggravating situation, attempting to figure out who would do something so sweet for her.

"No need to get all defensive about it, I just thought… wait, is it from Naruto then?" she briskly asked. Sakura shrugged, attempting to keep her not-caring facade.

"Possibly."

"How sweet," Ino gushed.

"Shut up."

"Well, what does the card say?" Ino asked promptly, snatching the paper from Sakura's hand and reading it before Sakura could even give her a response. "Well it's accurate enough. It probably is. Why don't you give him a chance?" Ino begged. Sakura groaned in annoyance. She never told Ino why exactly (this being the millionth time she asked), but she never did give him a real chance because that would involve a great change in the dynamic of their relationship, and she wasn't ready for something like that.

She wanted their relationship to stay the same and routine, like it had always been, and will hopefully stay.

"Heading out to lunch?" Ino already knew. Sakura nodded while Ino scoffed. "Some lunch break. It's not like you've been working. Judging from how your face looks, you just woke up. You're making it a habit to fall asleep on the job. Geez, you're becoming exactly like Tsunade-sama," she teased.

"Shut up Ino-pig. I had a rough night yesterday with all this damn paperwork. I'd like to see you get dumped with three whole stacks of papers you have to read and sign in one night." Sakura grinned, knowing she won.

"Whatever forehead, don't get your panties up in a bunch." Sakura laughed as she walked over to the main entrance of the hospital. She had spotted Naruto making a beeline towards her. Sakura's heart beat faster, staring down at the rose and card clenched in her hand, wondering if Naruto really did send it to her. As she stared back up, she noted how his expression changed the closer he walked towards her. Her eyebrows arched in curiosity, wondering what could make the blonds' face hold the biggest frown she'd ever seen.

.

Everything felt so right. The rebirth of spring brought back calmness to the village and a peace that lead the village to their own rebirth and tranquility after devastating times. Naruto, as everything else, was back to his old self, making his way to his favorite food place, Ichiraku's. However, he never went for lunch without Sakura of course. It was just like any other ordinary day. He could even predict what would happen. He'd go pick up Sakura, greet her, make sure she hadn't worked herself too hard at the hospital, and then she would scold him for looking like a mess and getting his shirt ripped – It was always something, whether it was a gashing wound, or his tattered clothing. She'd look at his frayed shirt and pants, mention how he should drop them off later on, and then they'd be on their way.

Today shouldn't have been different.

Alas, it was when Naruto's eyes darted to the most offensive object he had ever seen.

Sakura received a rose, but it _wasn't_ from him. Naruto was always up for surprises, unless it was something like this, when it concerned Sakura...and the surprise wasn't good.

"So, where'd you get the rose?" Naruto asked trying not to act as he felt – accusingly. She raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes. If he would have said it a little less suspicious, she might have told him she had no idea herself. Instead she smirked, sticking out her tongue.

"None of your business."

"C'mon, I won't get mad!" he whined. This time her brows furrowed.

"Why should I care if you get mad or not." She leered as she flicked his nose in a bit of annoyance, but mostly playful. She was in fact still single, and it was because of him. He was always either scaring any man away or beating the crap out of them – granted, only to ninja that agreed to challenge him. Both in which, she rather disliked to see.

The sad part about it was, it wasn't even intentional most of the time. Many just assumed they were an item, or liked challenging him, knowing he was the one to beat to win her heart – huh, yeah right.

Sometimes, men could be idiots.

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"Sakura-chan, you never answered my question!" Naruto childishly complained as he slurped up more of his ramen noodles. He held a rather large frown when he noticed Sakura was still gazing at the flower with a certain yearning. He wanted her to only look at him like that. It may have been only a flower, but she was probably thinking about the person who sent it to her, and he knew for a fact it wasn't him!

His eyes widened. She couldn't have gotten herself a boyfriend, could she? He froze mid-slurp.

"Sakura-chan. Do you have a boyfriend that I don't know about?" he inquired, feeling a bit uneasy about it. His stomach churned and it wasn't because he was starving. "Because you should at least tell me! I have to check the guy out before he even _thinks_ of dating you!" Sakura scoffed, thinking what a fine job he was doing at that. Whenever she did tell him about someone that was even remotely good-looking, he always sized him up quite a bit, his excuse being, _"if you're going to date anyone other than me, he has to be top notch and deserving of being with the prettiest girl in the world. Anything below that, I won't accept! You see, he needs to meet this standard!"_ All she could think about was the look of determination in his oceanic eyes when he said that. She twirled the stem of the rose in her hand, looking down. She had to admit, it was kind of funny and nice.

"Sakura-chan, you're having that look again. You're thinking about _him_, aren't you?" Sakura's eyes widened at his voice, completely perplexed.

"What look?"

"That look… when you really like someone. You know…" he trailed off, feeling a bit awkward saying that to her. He'd only really saw that look when they were twelve. She was staring at Sasuke's back when he jumped in front of her to protect her once. He frowned, feeling pretty doubtful and rather unhappy.

She must be serious about this guy then.

"Sakura-chan… Please, can you tell me his name!" he begged. She had noticed he was quiet for a while with a woebegone expression on his face. She sighed, giving a rather tender smile.

"You know, when I first saw it in front of my office door, I had thought you were the one who sent it. I should have known though." She chuckled at his confusion.

"What do you mean? I'd buy you a dozen roses! I'd buy you any type of flower you liked everyday if you wanted!" he confessed to her. She stifled giggles as she tried to calm down her little fits of laughter.

"I _meant_ that you wouldn't have done it secretly," she admitted with a rather pleasant smile on her face. Naruto's eyes widened.

"That means…"

"Yup, apparently I have a secret admirer," she said with a fond look in her eyes. "He even left me a romantic card." She took the small piece of paper from the inside of her pocket to let his curious eyes read:

_For the girl I had set my sights on for so long._

"I should have known you weren't a romantic." Sakura giggled at his scowl. He had such a puerile look as he scrunched up his face like a child.

"I could be romantic." She found his pout cute before she quickly brushed the thought away with a shake to her head in dissapointment.

"You're _so _immature."

.

She hadn't expected another one in front of her office door. However, that's exactly what she received the next day.

"What's this?" Sakura picked up another one of the wooden roses.

_For the girl who I can spot anywhere with her pretty pink hair._

Somehow, she wasn't surprised when Naruto quickly bagged on the note that she found pretty cute.

"It's an insult!"

"How is he insulting?"she asked, genuinely curious by his answer. He sighed, crossing his arms.

"C'mon._ I can spot anywhere with her pink hair._ You're a ninja! He's insulting your evasiveness!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah really. It's like he wants you to change your hair...or something," Naruto reasoned, gesticulating everything with flailing his hands in the air. He was making a mountain out of a mole hill. He was trying to find any reason to make her not like this guy, whoever he was.

Their conversation on whether the admirer was being insulting or flattering abruptly ended when a certain pale artist sat down next to them.

"Hey," they greeted.

"It's nice to see you two."

"Where have you been Sai?" Sakura asked.

"I just got back from my mission," Sai explained. They all nodded in understanding. Sai couldn't help but stare at the two roses next to Sakura's bowl.

"Isn't that a sign of love?" he inquired as he pointed at the flowers. Sakura nodded.

"Then are you two…?" he started, but Sakura rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"No, for the last time, they _aren't_ from Naruto." She was sick and tired of others thinking it was from Naruto of all people. Although, she supposed there was good reason behind their assumptions.

"I can't believe you're still carrying the one from yesterday," Naruto grumbled. "Anyways, it's from a dumbass who thinks he could win Sakura-chan's heart with a few insulting words and a rose."

"It's from a secret admirer, and I think it's sweet." She looked down at the wooden rose, pretending to admire it more than she usually would. She felt the hard petals. Wooden roses could last forever if she took care of them. She inwardly smirked. Something inside of her was really enjoying the way Naruto glared in jealousy.

"So they show their affection secretly?" Sai asked, realizing there were so many ways to show one's love.

"Yup. Although you get them reciprocated if the girl actually likes that. Sakura-chan would _much _rather like a guy who had the balls to show his affection without the fear of getting rejected, right?" He had a rather happy grin when she actually nodded in agreement.

"That is kind of true, I guess."

"I've always asked you out Sakura-chan." He reminded her.

She merely shrugged.

.

"There are a few guys I can think of that really like Sakura-chan for so long, and you're definitely at the top of the list." Naruto paced back and forth as he thought of what to ask. "Did you send her any wooden roses by any chance?"

"Sending roses, how youthful! I believe I should attempt to win Sakura-san's heart with flowers maybe. She is like a blossom that's bloomed to its fullest potential. She is the sun that radiates the warmth that fills my heart! She is-"

"Lee!" Naruto face palmed. He didn't need someone else trying to win her heart too – although he'd rather it be Lee than anyone else. He would at least know that if she ever wanted to be with Lee, he'd make her happy and protect her, and treat her with the utmost respect and demure. "I just needed to know if you had sent them or not. Judging by that answer, I'm guessing not. Damn it, if not you, then who?" He ruffled his hair in frustration.

It was a stretch, but he really wanted to find out who it was.

"Ino! You work at the flower shop, right? Anyone buy roses?" Naruto asked. Ino giggled.

"If you're talking about the roses Sakura got, then no. And FYI, I don't sell _wooden_ roses. My family's shop only sells the freshest of flowers." Ino crossed her arms, taking his misunderstanding as an insult. Naruto frowned in aggravation. Now how was he going to find out? Ino smirked as she leaned over the front counter, her eyes full of mischief.

"You know, you could just do some kind of stake out if you really care." Ino giggled. Naruto's eyes widened. Why hadn't he thought of that? That way he could catch this guy in the act and interrogate him to the fullest!

"That's not a bad idea. In fact, that's a great idea! Then I could meet this guy in person." Naruto said as he sprinted out through glass door of the flower shop.

"Naruto, I was only kidding!" Ino shouted. She sighed. "He really can't take a joke, can he?"

.

Naruto crawled, wondering how he had ever fit through these vents. It was a bit crazy, but he desperately wanted to find out who was sending her cards and those stupid wooden roses. It was a tight fit through this vent. It was much worse with Lee trying to squeeze through, saying something about being first, as if finding the right room was some sort of competition.

"Lee, stop squirming, it's hard enough as it is," Naruto whispered.

"You are moving far too slow Naruto-kun. Please speed it up a bit if you want to find out who this guy is," Lee suggested, and Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in frustration.

"Why are you even here in the first place?"

"If it deals with Sakura-san and someone who wants to win her heart, then I must meet this fellow. We will have a fair and square battle for Sakura-san's heart!" Lee answered. Naruto groaned. "Oh, you too, Naruto-kun." Naruto groaned even more when he was squished by Lee making a dash to the other end of the vent.

"If you keep making too much noise, not only are people going to hear us, but you might break it!" Naruto shouted.

"I believe you just jinxed it."

He never would have guessed Naruto really did just jinx it.

All Sakura could hear was a litany of whispers and a metal-like screech from above. When she looked up, a rather big crash came from the vent as she saw orange and green sprawled on the floor. She raised an eyebrow, and then rubbed her temples in irritation. They could be real nuisances. She really didn't expect Lee there either.

"Do you know how much it will cost to repair that?" she reprimanded. "Honestly, you two are so annoying sometimes!" she shouted as she shut her office door with a rather loud thud.

"But Sakura-chan-"

"Sakura-san-"

"I'm not talking to either of you until you pay for the damages, idiots! I don't even want to know why you two were in there, I just want to see it fixed!"

.

"Damnit, I got wiped clean." Naruto emptied his pockets to find nothing but lint. Not even a penny to his name.

"I don't think Sakura-san's estimate was accurate. It couldn't have cost _that_ much." Lee frowned as he noticed the hidden pocket in his green spandex were barren as well.

"Either way, I don't have any money." Naruto frowned. _"Gama-chan," _Naruto thought as he looked at his little frog wallet. "Even Gama-chan is empty." His manly tears rolled down as he looked at the starving frog.

"You're in luck Naruto. Tsunade-sama wanted to assign you a mission." Naruto's eyes gazed to the puff of smoke, revealing Shikamaru. "Ino told me what happened." He took a moment to shake his head in disappointment. Naruto took a moment to wonder how on Earth Ino not only got the information, but spread it so quickly. "You two are being real troublesome to Sakura, you know. I don't want to get into it at all, but if she wants to date someone, that should be her decision. She's old and smart enough to do what's best for her, and you two really shouldn't get in the way. I know you two like her and all, but sometimes the truth hurts, you know? You two really need to open your eyes and accept the facts." Lee wiped up tears, and Naruto frowned in deep thought. "Anyway, Naruto, we have a mission."

"Yeah, I heard you the first time," he spoke sourly. He felt bitter by such painful words. Was it really time to face the truth of the matter? He'd been asking her out for years, and even when he kept on trying to win her heart countless of times, she still hadn't accepted his feelings. Their relationship really was going to stay a friendship.

He should really be focused on that mission briefing at the moment.

.

Sakura grinned at the rose on her floor. That was the fifth one she received. She picked it up and continued to stare at it. She looked at it all the way to the front desk of the hospital until she was forced to look around due to Naruto's absence.

"Damn it, I'm not going to have a lunch if he's this late." She tapped her foot until she finally went to the nurse at the front desk. "Excuse me, have you seen Naruto around?" Sakura asked. The women shook her head.

"Didn't you hear? He has a mission with Shikamaru and Choji," Ino said as she walked up to her. She grinned when she stared at the red flower in her hand.

"I see someone must really be in love with you to keep giving you roses like that." Sakura shrugged with indifference.

"I guess so."

"What's the matter?" she asked worried.

"I don't know." Sakura twirled the stem in between her index and middle finger as her other hand stayed limp at her side. The two remained still as Ino analyazed the girl's expressions.

"Sad Naruto's not here?" Ino asked with a small smirk in knowing.

"For teasing, sure…" she said, although she knew it wasn't the whole truth. Yeah, she really did miss Naruto; he was her friend. She wanted to tease him though. She kind of liked the way he would get jealous of something as simple as someone giving her a rose. It made her feel special. Now that he's not here, the whole, _"getting a rose"_ kind of lost its satisfying tendencies when he's not there to feel offended.

She felt kind of bad about the entire situation.

"D'aww, you're so sad. It's kind of cute." Ino smirked. Sakura sighed in annoyance, but then brushed it off, forgetting what she said completely as she continued to contemplate.

"Am I evil if I only like these roses because they screw with Naruto?"

"Not really, but you're an idiot and a little brat for it," Ino said. Sakura's eyes were glazed in anger towards the girl. "Why would you purposely try to hurt him like that?"

"I'm not trying to hurt him! I just… he gets so jealous! It makes me happy because I feel as if I'm…" She trailed off, embarrassed at what she was about to say. How could she possibly word this to not make her sound egotistical and haughty? It wasn't as if any other girl _wouldn't_ feel the way she did, right? "As if I'm special than any other girl, and you know, desirable. It's really flattering, really," she confessed. Ino laughed.

"You really are an idiot," Ino chortled out. "It doesn't have to be a win-lose situation you know. There are… other ways to make you feel that way." Ino gave a rather seductive smirk, making Sakura blush in embarrassment.

"I can't just have sex with him you know!" She glared. Ino's laughter grew so everyone in the hospital could hear.

"I never said _anything_ about having sex with him."

"But you were thinking it."

"No, you were."

"I hate you."

"I love you too," Ino said in between chuckles, wiping her tears. "You're such a closet pervert, you know? I can just imagine the type of sex life you'd have. If I were to guess, you'd be a freak in bed…"

Damn it, she had her thinking of such nasty, disturbing images after their little chat. She liked to think her and Naruto's relationship as an innocent friendship. Before at the very least. Now she couldn't get the raunchy thoughts out of her mind. She couldn't even concentrate during work as the lewd images just kept coming and coming. After a while, she could deal with the thought of kissing him, even a nice make-out session.

It was just… when it went further that she grew stiff and rigid and had to close her thighs extra tight… that was when she really wanted to destroy her brain for bringing up such dirty thoughts. Damn it, she really was a closet pervert.

"_I need a break,"_ she thought as she clutched her warm forehead from the constant amount of blood rushing to her head.

She was going to _kill_ Ino.

.

Sakura's eyes saddened at the next rose that appeared on that same spot. This time, saying:

_I hope we can go on a date when we finally meet._

She frowned as she continued to look at the card.

"I don't want to date a man without the balls to ask me out in person." _With out the fear of being rejected,_ she heard the voice of Naruto say. A small laugh was strained when she thought about it. She didn't really feel the need to make him jealous anymore.

She just really missed him now.

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"He's only been gone for a damn _week_!" Ino shouted in annoyance. Really, she didn't want to see her friend mulling over her past actions."And when the hell did I start eating lunch _here_?" she growled, referring to Ichiraku's. Having ramen everyday wasn't really her cup of tea. She was much more used to the barbeque restaurant Choji always dragged Shikamaru and herself to. Too much ramen didn't abide well with one Yamanaka Ino.

"It's your punishment," Sakura declared, smirking at her friends anguish.

"For what?"

"For… " She paused mid-sentence, and then decided to silence herself completely by shutting her mouth. Her lips were pursed. It would end up being worse on her if Sakura ever confessed to Ino the outcome of her words last week. "For being annoying this week Ino-pig."

"Annoying? I think I was being helpful since you're so butt hurt about your boyfriend, who you love to mentally torture." Sakura growled at the words, while Ino shrugged, knowing she was right. She added, "being gone for only a damn week! I'd hate to see how you get if his mission was longer." Sakura blushed, flustered.

"Shut up Ino-pig!"

"Can it forehead!" They would have gotten into a pretty big and catty word fight if it wasn't for Teuchi breaking them up and the fact that they'd be late for their next shift.

.

Sakura sat in her office, incredibly annoyed and bothered. She stared at the wooden rose, a small, yet ironic chuckle coming out of her lips.

"I'm surprised he hadn't mentioned that a wooden rose wasn't real." She continuously twirled the stem until the cheap green paper was effortlessly removed. A rather full-sized frown was etched on her face.

Why was she missing him this much? She was sulking and moping about, not focused on anything _but _Naruto. It wasn't some big mission that was either life or death. He could handle himself fine, and it wasn't some sort of S-ranked mission.

He was only going to be gone for one more week.

One. More. Week.

She heard from Tsunade-sama that it was a fairly simple mission in the Sand Village. Naruto was with damn Shikamaru and Choji, great friends she trusted. She shouldn't feel this bad, this worried and weary.

So then why did she?

"Maybe this could work out to both of our benefits…" Sakura trailed off. Maybe it was a gift in disguised. She inwardly smiled, a thought coming to mind.

.

"Do secret admirers take this long to reveal themselves?" she asked herself as her cheek laid on the palm of her hand. She was bored. It was too quiet in her office for her liking, but at least she could think straight. She looked at the rose as she continued her work, annoyed by it.

_"Whoever this guy is. He better show himself soon,"_ she thought in annoyance. She wished she could just scream at him for being an idiot, but she didn't know who he was.

Whoever the guy was, it was his fault for making her feel this way. She wished there was a way to communicate. After a few minutes, her eyes widened when she reached an epiphany, wondering how she could be so stupid.

"Why didn't I think of it before?" she asked herself. She quickly grabbed a sticky note and began scribbling a quick message, saying:

_If you want me to even consider you, you better show your face. I'm an impatient girl. I don't like waiting. _

She quickly ripped it off the other sticky notes and slammed it onto the front of her door. Once the task was done, she gave out a gnawing yawn and headed back to her dreaded sea of papers waiting for her.

.

Sakura had woken up to a small stack of papers she had signed. She cursed when she noiced some of the ink was smudged by her drool. Her dreams really weren't helping her during work. They always left her a mess to organize in the morning. She scratched her head and looked around, drowsily realizing she was still in her office. After having a mental note to discuss a few issues with Tsunade and all the work she's been piling on her, her eyes widened.

"_I wonder if he got the message,"_ she thought as she practically ran out the door.

_Responding to the girl who is as feisty as a chili pepper:_

_I'm sorry, I'm a bit shy. I feel as if I would freeze if I even tried speaking to you, someone who's as beautiful as a rose, but yes. I'll meet you outside of the sliding doors of the hospital at noon. _

After a big roll of her eyes after reading the weird wording, Sakura smirked, happy to finally meet this secret admirer of hers.

The stage was set. It was time to continue her plan of action.

.

"You guys are here early," Ino waved at the three boys walking through the gate.

"Ino!" Choji called while Shikamaru gave a small wave towards the girl in salutation. Naruto smiled, greeting the girl as well.

"How did your mission go?" Ino asked.

"I totally kicked ass!" Naruto bragged, rather pleased with himself. Everything went according to plan, and he was able to beat some buttocks' as well.

"Good to see you're still humble as ever Naruto," she teased while giggling.

"You two are free to do whatever you like. I'll go report back to Hokage-sama," Shikamaru stated as he lazily walked toward the hokage tower. Choji smirked, looking at the two blondes. He rubbed his hands together, licking his lips.

"Alright. What do you all say us three go to my favorite barbeque place since we've successfully completed a mission and stuff? It will be Shikamaru's treat." Choji and Ino giggled at the thought. Naruto grinned but shook his head.

"I kind of have other plans," Naruto said with a toothy grin.

"Oh, I bet you're going to have lunch with your Sakura_-chan_, right?" He really liked what Ino was getting at.

"Yup!" Ino frowned.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Ino sheepishly laughed. Naruto stared at her with a tilted head, his eyebrow quirking up in confusion.

"Why's that? We always have lunch together; I pick her up exactly at noon almost everyday."

"Well, I guess you might want to interrupt whatever's going on at the front doors of the hospital…" Ino trailed off acting a bit too innocent for any of the boys liking.

"Why?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow, showing suspicion.

"Well, you didn't hear it from me but-" Ino looked around to make sure ears weren't listening in, "she told me she was finally going to meet that guy who keeps sending her roses." Naruto bit his lip, a very big battle commencing in his mind.

He promised himself he'd back off…

He was curious about the guy though. He also promised he'd judge any guy with critical, yet fair eyes.

He at least had to see who he was.

It only took a few seconds to make up his mind before he was an orange blur, heading towards the hospital.

Many bystanders swore they saw something strange when an orange… thing passed by. He was moving so fast, they weren't really sure who or what it was.

.

Naruto took to climbing up an oak tree near the hospital when he realized Sakura was already talking to some guy: her admirer. She was laughing at something he said, and he was smiling. Naruto analyzed the guy from head to toe.

He wasn't the type of eye candy Sakura thought was handsome, but he wasn't ugly either. He was just average looking. He wore the same white coat as Sakura, so he must work with her.

He also must be pretty damn smart too.

Well, that was fine, although that wasn't part of his criteria. He made a list and everything. There were certain things that the guy had to have or else he would be no good for Sakura. He was rather pleased, that his criteria was rather small, only five things. However, those five things were necessary, or else he would be below standards in his eyes.

Naruto didn't think he had ever seen him at the hospital before. He couldn't help but wonder why. His ears strained, attempting to hear their conversation, but it wasn't to be. He was fighting back the temptation to just jump in and scare the guy off. He wasn't sure why, but he felt his heart racing. It felt as if it would burst. He could hear it thumping better than he could hear them converse.

It was a great contrast to his heart practically stopping when he saw them embrace. She padded his back, and Naruto couldn't take it.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called. Sakura looked at the blond man in wonderment.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" she asked with nothing but shock emanate in her constricted pupils.

"I guess it's your decision, but I still can't accept it! Not yet!" Naruto growled in anger, glaring towards the man that almost knocked him dead if looks could kill. "Sakura-chan, you shouldn't like the guy just because he gave you roses! I just wouldn't get it otherwise! I know you well enough to know he is _not_ your type! He seems like nothing but a poser, a guy who doesn't have the balls to ask you out on a date! Sure, he may be smart, but how do you know if he'll really treat you right?" Naruto reasoned, now fully intent on convincing Sakura otherwise. She had stared at him all this time with widened eyes, incredulous to the fact that Naruto was actually standing there. "Sakura-chan, you're better than someone like him! If he wants to meet expectations!"

"I-I'm so out of here! S-see you at work S-Sakura-san." Naruto's glare made the man in the white coat zip out of there, fearing for his life. Once he saw the man crawl through the hospital doors, Naruto couldn't help but smirk at a job well done.

"See Sakura-chan? He's a coward. I was saving you from-" His grin faltered when he saw her with the most annoyed expression he had ever seen. She seemed so angry for something he thought turned out well in the end. He couldn't hold back his frown this time. He couldn't just give her a big toothy grin, especially now that he felt it would only make her even more angry with him.

"You are such an idiot!" Sakura scolded.

"W-what?" he asked in disbelief. He was supposed to be doing a huge favor for her. How did this happen?

"First of all, you have no business getting into my personal affairs!" she said anger stricken. "Second of all, I don't need your help; I can make my own decisions on my own." Naruto frowned at her words that struck like a damn kunai embedded into his chest.

"I'm sorry if I'm trying to help you Sakura-chan. I just didn't think he was good enough-"

"I've known him for a while now. I work with him. He is a highly respectable doctor, alright? He's brave enough to work the front lines with medical nin even when he's only a civilian, and I get it. You care about me enough to watch out for me and all, which I think is okay, sweet even. But sometimes you can go overboard. I can handle things on my own," she reiterated herself from earlier, a little more calmly this time.

"Sakura-chan, I-" he was about to say until she interrupted.

"And for your information, I was letting him down easy, alright?" she admitted. It was odd how she could change so quickly. Now, her red face full of anger was replaced by a light pink blush full of embarrassment. "I… I told him, that even though I appreciated the gesture, I wanted him to stop because I know how much it hurts you. Now thanks to you, he's going to be afraid to even talk to me at work. Well, I guess you don't have to worry about him sending me any roses anymore." Sakura laughed a bit at the thought as she hugged herself tightly. Although it pleased him to hear, he wasn't going to tell her that. She bit her lip.

"I'm sorry about all this mess," Sakura confessed. Naruto tilted his head.

"What do you mean?"

"About before, how I was inconsiderate of your feelings." Naruto furrowed his eyebrows, still not sure where she was going with this. "Sometimes I just thought you were kidding a lot, or I didn't really take it that seriously." She sighed, continuing. "I hate waiting; I'm a very impatient girl. And you're worse than I am. All this time, I shouldn't have kept you waiting." She looked away with a blatant blush on her cheeks and a small smile wanting to burst out, only hidden away by the childish scowl on her face.

"I still don't know what you're talking about. Waiting to say you dumped the guy?" he asked.

"No." She mentally laughed. "I was hoping to tell you I turned him down myself instead of you having to see me do it to avoid you acting like a jealous boyfriend," she said, rather frustrated with him and his ignorance. "I didn't know you would come back earlier than what Tsunade-sama anticipated. When you came back, I was just going to tell you myself that I had turned him down long before I met him, because I had already decided I couldn't give him a chance."

"I just don't want to see you with the wrong guy. He needs to be really special, that all of us will like, you know? Or else when you try to bring him places with everyone, it's going to be awkward if we all hate the guy. You have lousy taste in men," he muttered, crossing his arms. For some reason, the punch he was expecting didn't happen, and instead fits of giggles reached his ears, making him stare at her apprehensively. "What's so funny?"

"Your stupidity. Now go ahead, enlighten me," she said as she urged him to continue. He raised an eyebrow, but scrunched his face with indifference and continued.

"It's just you pick the weirdoes."

"I certainly do."

"And they're nothing but dumbasses."

"You have no idea." she laughed.

"Sakura-chan-" He was really confused. First she didn't hit him, then she started laughing when he was insulting her taste, and now she was kissing him. Although, his mind kind of… froze by the latter.

On his defense, it was really hard to think when a pair of glossed lips where on his chapped ones. Especially when they belonged to none other than Haruno Sakura.

He reluctantly pulled back. His hands met her shoulders and he squeezed rather tightly. He looked over her smiling face, searching for answers.

"I promised myself I wouldn't intentionally hurt your feelings anymore. And although making a fool out of yourself isn't exactly that, it still makes me feel bad to see you being the most idiotic guy I know." He really couldn't believe all she did was shrug.

"I-I don't get it," he told her. She sighed in annoyance. Figures…

She wished she didn't have to elaborate.

"You don't have to, but if you really like to know… I get happy when you make me feel this way- when you make me feel as if I'm the most amazing person in the world."

"You're making me even more confused now. What's so bad about that? You should be happy, it's the truth," he said with that same toothy grin that made her heart swell. Sakura embraced him. She guessed Ino was right. He could make her feel so great at times, and she wanted to see how things turned out, even if the dynamic of their relationship did change. Now, she didn't mind taking a chance with him. She stared up again, wanting to see his cerulean eyes. Naruto couldn't help but beam. She was giving him a look that made him believe every word she said. He'd only seen it twice before.

"Sakura-chan, you must really, really like me. I can tell when you're serious about a guy. It's when you give that look."

"What look?"

"You know… that one," he sheepishly laughed as a bead of sweat rolled down his face. He scratched the back of his neck, wondering if there was another way he should have responded. He just hugged her, savoring every moment. "And don't worry Sakura-chan; I'll make you feel special anytime." He rubbed her back, and she blushed.

Why did a very sexual image have to run across her mind at that moment? The images weren't as disturbing, but her closet pervyness really wasn't going to do so well him making double entendres like this all the time.

"_Stupid Ino-pig." _

"Don't talk like that you perv!" she all but yelled. The shade of red on her face became profusely darker. She bit her lips as she punched him to the floor. She stormed out with clenched fist; she really needed to find a way to control what pops up in her head.

"W-what I say?" Naruto's fingers twitched as he felt so confused, yet so damn lucky all at the same time.

She was _seriously_ going to _kill_ Ino.

.

_A/N:_ This was yet another one-shot I had stored in my myriad of folders. I wasn't sure if I should have brought this to life and posted it (the reason that I didn't post it a while ago would be because I didn't really think it was good). But alas, I'm shutting off my conscious that's telling me it's not worth it, and sharing it with you all. And yes, like I said before, I'm very proud of this. I worked really hard on this and put a lot of time and effort on this.

If you liked it and are happy I decided to post it, you must thank one of my dearest friends on here, Yvette (Sincerely. Yvette), for always helping me out and motivating me! I don't think I would have ever posted this if she hadn't always told me to have some confidence in my work! So I thank you so much!


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